A/N: Hi there, thanks for clicking the link! After finishing my last fanfic (Ultimate: The Auditions) back in December, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to keep writing some Smash Bros. fanfiction, and came up with this. Obviously, this is a very different concept from my last work, so I hope you enjoy! As always, I take all forms of constructive criticism, and am always open to improving so let me know your thoughts!

Chapter 1 – Staring Out Into the Abyss

The arena roared with cheers when Mario came out of his warp pipe in the boxing ring. He gave a wave to the camera as he waited for the announcer to start the match. On his opposite side, the infamous Piranha Plant emerged from its pot, its mouth turned into a grin.

"3...2...1...GO!"

The two began the fight. The Piranha Plant charging up its poison while Mario sent some fireballs across the stage.

I was seated in the very back of the arena, at the absolute nosebleeds with a couple of other fighters. We weren't scheduled to fight until much later, so we made sure to take a look at what our competition was up to. The marketing team was right, this truly was going to be the Ultimate Smash Brothers tournament. There were seventy-five fighters, the most of any of the previous tournaments, and everyone had returned.

I looked over to the left of my friends, Ness and Pit, both of whom made signs for the Piranha Plant. They waved their signs in the air and chanted "Piranha Plant! Piranha Plant! Piranha Plant!"

Me on the other hand? I chose not to take any sides, both of these fighters were my competition, after all, and even though I had spent months perfecting my PK attacks, I knew that I was in for some steep competition.

The Piranha Plant jumped up on top of the lighting fixture, with Mario following right behind him. The hand-to-hand combat, mixed with the weight of both fighters, caused the fixture to fall to the ground. The plant fell face first, allowing Mario to charge up his forward Smash attack and send Piranha Plant way out past the blast zone. The Italian plumber managed to take one stock away, but there were still two more to go.

Ness and Pit shouted words of encouragement that Piranha Plant definitely couldn't hear, "You can do this! It's not over yet! Use the spike ball!"

Ness, who was seated right next to me, nudged my arm, "C'mon Lucas, don't you want to see the Piranha Plant win this?"

I laughed, "Yeah, I mean, a little, but...I'm not taking sides."

We continued to cheer the fight on, Ness and Pit shouting what seemed like nonsense to me. I couldn't really hear them, and now that the person that sat in front of me stood up, I could barely even see the match in front of me. I got out of my seat, and turned to Ness and Pit, "I'm going to go get some popcorn. You guys want anything?"

Pit immediately chimed in, "Get me some soda! Oh, and some cotton candy, too!"

Ness reached in his pocket and handed me a couple of dollars, "Can you get me some nachos? You're the best, man!"

I clenched the money in my hand and slipped out the back door. The fight was definitely entertaining, I'm sure, but I was starting to get kind of hungry, and frankly, I couldn't even see the fight because someone was in the way. Maybe we should've tried to get some closer seats.

The lobby, which housed the concessions stand, was much quieter and allowed me to hear myself think. I stepped on the back of the line, making a mental note of everything to pick up at concessions. I turned around quickly to see Bowser Jr. standing by one of the glass windows, moping around. I faced forward and shrugged, I knew why Bowser Jr. was so upset; he just lost a fight against Isabelle, and that meant that he was out of the tournament. Plus, that was the first fight of the tournament, meaning he was literally the first fighter eliminated.

I looked down at my feet and stared at the white tile, hearing the faint sounds of a cheering crowd from the giant navy blue doors I had just walked out of. I turned back around to see Bowser Jr. slowly walk out of the building. I wondered where he was going.

I heard the sounds of the cheering turn into screams of terror. The small crowd in the lobby turned toward the door with concern. Something was definitely not going to plan, but what could it possibly be? The screams got louder, with fists banging on the doors asking for help. My heart started to race, how was it possible that nobody was able to leave the arena when I opened the door with no problems about two minutes ago?

A Toad that was on line for concessions rushed toward the door and tried to open it, "It won't budge!" He announced. A couple of other bystanders rushed to the door to assist, but to no avail...at first.

When they finally were able to open the door, a dark purple vortex emerged out, engulfing all of the bystanders who made an effort to be brave and open the doors. My fight or flight reflex immediately told me to make a run for it and escape the building entirely. The screams coming from the building got louder, young children began crying. Tons of others were also attempting to exit the stadium just like I was. However, I was lucky. I managed to beat most of the crowds, being the first one of the building. I had a bit of an advantage: I was the last one on the line for concessions, and the lobby was, for the most part, pretty empty. I was the closest to the front door.

I ran outside, running right into Bowser Jr., who was standing outside in the open. He helped break my fall as he landed on the concrete. Bowser Jr. managed to roll out of the impact, minimizing any risk of injury, "Watch where you're going!"

I stood up, lending a hand to the Koopa, "I'm sorry, it's just that we're in danger."

Bowser Jr. looked out at the stadium, which was now just one big purple vortex, his mouth now wide open "Oh...shit...we need to get out of here!"

Bowser Jr. grabbed my hand and started running. I turned back to stare at the vortex, now beginning to frown. My friends were now all gone. Ness was gone. Pit was gone. Everyone who was in that stadium was now completely gone. As far as I knew, it was just me and Bowser Jr.

Bowser Jr. began to slow down as we reached the nearest bus stop. We slowly came to a halt to catch our breaths. We looked out toward the stadium, the vortex seemed to slow down, but we had our suspicions that it was actually going to stop anytime soon.

I crouched down, my hands on my knees, as I took some deep breaths. I looked up at Bowser Jr., who was still staring out at the vortex with his arms crossed. His face was completely hard to read. With a sense of panic I blurted out, "Do you have something to do with this?"

Bowser Jr. glared at me with bewilderment, "Are you kidding me!? You really think I'd do something like this?"

I didn't say a word, I simply nodded my head. Bowser Jr. scoffed, "Just because I'm the villain makes me the one responsible for this mess? Why would I be standing here with you if I was responsible for this?"

"I...I don't know," I admitted, trying to hold back some tears, "I'm just terrified. I have no idea what's going on. Our lives are in danger!"

"Yeah, I know our lives are in danger, dumbass." Bowser Jr. shouted, "But I had nothing to do with this. Trust me."

I took a deep breath, "Fine, I believe you. I trust you."

We stared out at the barren wastelands. The purple vortex now remaining stagnant. The afternoon sun radiated on our skin as we slowly walked closer toward the whirlwind. We were now a distance away, but there was still so many questions running through my head: What's going on? Who's doing this? How can we stop this? Are there any other survivors?

I turned toward Bowser Jr. who was staring blankly ahead, "Do you know if there's anybody we may know who wasn't in that building by chance?"

Bowser Jr. blinked as he looked back at me. He remained silent for a moment, "I...I'm not sure. Why?"

"Because maybe they're still alive. Maybe they can help us!"

Bowser Jr. took another moment of silence, trying to come up with the name of some fighter he definitely knew was around, he immediately scoffed as he blurted out, "I think I recall Isabelle went out to get lunch, but I don't know where she could have possibly gone off to."

"Well, maybe we should look for her!"

"Why?" Bowser Jr. snarled, "How would she help us anyway? Throw her fishing rod into that stupid vortex?"

I rolled my eyes, "Bowser Jr., the tournament should be an afterthought to you right now. As far as we know, we're the only two living creatures around. We need to find as much support as we can!"

I decided to slowly walk away. Bowser Jr. remained planted to where he was standing. As I looked back at him. The Koopa groaned and caught up to me, "Fine, but I won't be happy about this."

Of course, the one other living thing I have to deal with in the midst of an apocalypse is Bowser Jr., one of the whiniest children I have ever had to interact with. Just my luck, right?

The sun was beating down on the two of us as we aimlessly walked around in search for Isabelle, or anyone really. We passed by a couple of small shops, each completely closed with signs saying "Closed for Smash Bros. Tournament" written on small, white sheets of paper. We walked side by side as our feet touched the stone pavement.

"You're sure that you have...no idea where Isabelle is?" I panted, my legs starting to feel like jelly. I stopped in my tracks and took a moment to sit down.

Bowser Jr. took a seat next to me, and sighed, "No, I have no idea where she went. Stop asking me! My answer will never change."

I took a moment to contemplate: If I were Isabelle, where would I go? What would I do? From the information that I did gain from Bowser Jr., she went out to grab something to eat after winning the tournament. A bit of an odd decision, considering that it seems like every store, restaurant, and business closed down for the start of the tournament. However, it's this decision that saved her life, that is assuming that she is still alive.

As far as Bowser Jr. and I knew, the vortex was only at the stadium, meaning Isabelle may have possibly gone back to the stadium, blissfully unaware of the massacre that had occurred previously. I looked over to Bowser Jr., "We need to go back to the stadium. Maybe that's where she is!"

Bowser Jr. groaned, "Can we do that in five minutes? I'm really comfortable on the ground."

"We need to go now!"

I reached out to lift Bowser Jr. up from the ground as we started to rush back to the scene of the crime.

The golden Shih Tzu was exactly where I assumed she would be. She stood by the vortex, pacing nervously back and forth. She looked up to see Bowser Jr. and I rushing back toward her, "Lucas! Bowser Jr.! You're alive!"

She rushed over to hug both of us, starting to cry. "I thought everyone was gone! I was so afraid!"

Neither of us said anything. I patted Isabelle's back a couple of times, holding back some of my own tears. I lost some of my closest friends today, and it truly didn't hit me until I saw Isabelle. Bowser Jr. remained a stone wall of emotion, completely avoiding any sign of vulnerability, even though his own father was nowhere to be found.

Bowser Jr. found his escape from this moment of intimacy and kept a distance between the two of us, "Listen, I'm glad you're okay, or whatever, but I don't want to sit here and cry with you two losers."

Isabelle sniffled and let go of me, she wiped the tears from her eyes, "I'm sorry, it's just that I've lost so many friends now, and I have no idea what to do..."

"I've lost friends too," Bowser Jr. argued. "I lost my Dad, but you don't see me crying about it. You didn't even lose any of your family members."

"This isn't a competition!" I interjected, putting my arms out in between the two, "Just a quick reminder that we are in danger, and we do need to do something about it. Someone's behind this, we just have to figure out who and stop them."

Bowser Jr. scoffed, "Why do you have to be right all of the time, Lucas? Maybe there's nothing we can do, ever thought about that?"

"Yeah, I have, and there's part of me that thinks there is nothing we can do, but we have to try something!"

The Koopa put his hands on his hips, "Then what do we do?"

"I don't know! Maybe we'll figure it out!"

Isabelle looked out in the distance, toward the edge of the vortex. The winds were starting to get stronger, most likely warning us that the black hole was starting to get bigger. Isabelle continued to stare, squinting out to see if there was something out in the distance. She pointed slightly to the left, noticing a white and silver metallic figure in the distance, "Guys! Is that R.O.B?"

The figure was laying on the grass, motionless, laying on its back with its arms up. It looked exactly like the robot we had come to know all of these years ago. The black hole was starting to get bigger, slowly sucking up anything in its way.

My eyes widened, "It is! We need to save him!"

We ran with as much speed as possible, the winds of the vortex slapping us in the face, but it was going to be worth it if it meant we could save a life.